Contactless data carrier

ABSTRACT

A contactless data carrier which is adapted to be disposed in a receiving portion of an object connection device includes a base and a tag member. The base is adapted to be tucked into the receiving portion and has an upper section and a lower section, which are connected to each other. An outer peripheral surface of the base is adapted to abut against an inner surface of the receiving portion. A width of the upper section gradually decreases in a direction away from the lower section. A width of the lower section gradually decreases in a direction away from the upper section. The tag member is disposed at the base is stored with data relative to the object connection device to be read in a contactless manner by a reading device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to a contactless data carrier,and more particularly to a contactless data carrier, which is disposedat an object connection device, and data of the object connection devicestored in the contactless data carrier is adapted to be read in acontactless manner by a reading device.

2. Description of Related Art

Common object connection devices include connecting rings, shackles,pull rings, rope sockets, snatch blocks, hoist rings, swivels, swivelhoist rings, eye bolts, bearing swivels, hooks, buckles, connectinglinks, chains, ratchets, etc. The object connection devices aretypically used to fix, lift, or tie goods or equipment, wherein each ofthe object connection devices has different models, sizes, mechanicalproperties, manufacturers, manufacturing dates, critical loads, servicelives, maintenance processes, other related information, etc.

For safety, users must be familiar with the relevant information of eachof the object connection devices. However, in practice, it is clearlydifficult for users to bear the relevant information of various objectconnection devices in mind. In light of this, a load bearer with thecontactless readable data carrier, which is similar to theaforementioned object connection devices, is disclosed in EP 2508461 B1,which allows the user to read the data stored on the data carrier tolearn about the relevant information of the load bearer.

As shown in FIG. 21 in EP 2508461 B1, the data carrier 14 is fixed bygenerating friction between a load-receiving part 1 and retaining ribs23. However, the retaining ribs 23 extends in a direction perpendicularto a surface 22, wherein such direction is parallel to the force thatenables the data carrier 14 to be disengaged from the load-receivingpart 1. In light of this, the way that the data carrier 14 in EP 2508461B1 being fixed is not firm, so that the data carrier 14 may disengagefrom the load-receiving part 1. In all aspects, the conventional datacarrier still has room for improvements.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above, the primary objective of the present invention isto provide a contactless data carrier, which could be firmly fixed at anobject connection device, and would not easily disengage therefrom.

The present invention provides a contactless data carrier, which isadapted to be disposed in a receiving portion of an object connectiondevice, including a base and a tag member, wherein the base is adaptedto be tucked into the receiving portion, and an outer peripheral surfaceof the base has a plurality of projections arranged at regularintervals. A top surface of each of the projections is adapted to abutagainst an inner surface of the receiving portion. The tag member isdisposed at the base, wherein the tag member is stored with a piece ofdata relative to the object connection device. The tag member is adaptedto be read in a contactless manner by a reading device.

With the aforementioned design, the outer peripheral surface of the basecould firmly abut against the inner surface of the receiving portion ofthe object connection device, so that the contactless data carrier wouldnot easily disengage therefrom.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be best understood by referring to thefollowing detailed description of some illustrative embodiments inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the object connection device and thecontactless data carrier of a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the contactless data carrier of thefirst embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram, showing the contactless data carrier ofthe first embodiment is tucked into the receiving portion;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the contactless data carrier of a secondembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the contactless data carrier of a thirdembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the contactless data carrier of a fourthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the contactless data carrier of the fourthembodiment;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram, showing the contactless data carrier ofthe fourth embodiment is tucked into the receiving portion;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the contactless data carrier of a fifthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the contactless data carrier of a sixthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a side view of the contactless data carrier of a seventhembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a side view of the contactless data carrier of an eighthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a side view of the contactless data carrier of a ninthembodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 14-19 are schematic diagrams, showing the contactless data carrierof the present invention is respectively tucked into variously orientedtypes of receiving portions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A contactless data carrier 100 of a first embodiment of the presentinvention and an object connection device which is a side-pull hoistring 1 as an example are illustrated in FIG. 1, wherein the side-pullhoist ring 1 includes a bolt 1 a, an engaging member 1 b, and a bail 1c. The engaging member 1 b is engaged with the bolt 1 a, and the bail 1c is pivotally engaged with the engaging member 1 b, wherein a receivingportion, which is a blind hole 1 d as an example, is disposed on a sidesurface of the engaging member 1 b.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the contactless data carrier 100 includesa base 10 and a tag member 20, wherein the base 10 is adapted to betucked into the blind hole 1 d of the side-pull hoist ring 1, and has atop 10 a and a bottom 10 b opposite to the top 10 a. In practice, thebase 10 is typically tucked into the blind hole 1 d with the bottom 10 bfacing the blind hole 1 d. However, this is not a limitation of thepresent invention. In other embodiments, the base 10 could be tuckedinto the blind hole 1 d with the top 10 a facing the blind hole 1 d.

An outer peripheral surface of the base 10 has a plurality ofprojections 12 arranged at regular intervals, wherein a top surface 12 aof each of the projections 12 is adapted to abut against an innersurface of the blind hole 1 d.

In the current embodiment, the base 10 has four projections 12 as anexample, wherein the projections 12 are arranged at regular intervals.However, the number of the projections is not a limitation of thepresent invention. In other embodiments, the base 10 could have three ormore than four projections 12.

In the current embodiment, the base 10 is made of an elastic material,such as rubber, silicone, or other polymer materials. However, thematerial of the base is not a limitation of the present invention. Inother embodiments, the base could be made of others elastomer, such asThermoplastic Elastomer (TPE). Preferably, the base could be made ofinsulating materials. The advantage of using the elastic material isthat when the base 10 is tucked into the blind hole 1 d, the projections12 are pressed to be elastically deformed, so that the contact pressurebetween the projections 12 and the inner surface of the blind hole 1 dwould be increased, especially the contact pressure in normal. Whereby,providing a tight performance, and the contactless data carrier 100would not be easily disengaged. In addition, in the current embodiment,the top surface 12 a of each of the projections 12 is a convex surface,so that when the projections 12 is deformed, the top surface 12 a couldabut against an inner surface of the receiving portion much closely, andthe contactless data carrier 100 could be engaged with the blind hole 1d tightly.

The tag member 20 is disposed at the base 10, and is stored with data ofthe side-pull hoist ring 1, such as models, mechanical properties,manufacturers, manufacturing date, critical load, service life,maintenance process, etc., wherein the stored data could be read in acontactless manner by a reading device (not shown) which is operable bya user. In an embodiment, the data stored in the tag member 20 could bea code, wherein the code is read by the reading device, and thecorresponding data in a database could be retrieved according to thecode, whereby to obtain the data of the corresponding object connectiondevice.

In the current embodiment, the tag member 20 is a passive RFID (RadioFrequency Identification) electronic tag, and the reading device is anRFID reader, wherein the RFID reader is operable by the user to read thedata stored in the RFID electronic tag. It is worth mentioning that, thedata stored in the tag member 20 could be modified and stored again. Forinstance, the tag member 20 could be updated and stored with the data ofthe maintenance process again by the user when the side-pull hoist ring1 is maintained or repaired.

However, the tag member 20 is not limited to be the passive RFIDelectronic tag, but could be semi-passive or active RFID electronictags, or other equivalent structures, such as NFC electronic tags,ferrite NFC electronic tags, etc. In addition, in the currentembodiment, the tag member 20 is disposed inside the base 10, whichcould prevent the tag member 20 from being polluted by foreign matters.However, the disposition of the tag member 20 is not a limitation of thepresent invention. In other embodiments, the tag member 20 could bedisposed on an outer surface of the base 10.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a contactless data carrier 200 of a secondembodiment of the present invention has almost the same structure asthat of the first embodiment, except that the outer peripheral surfaceof a base 210 has a plurality of annular grooves 214, wherein theannular grooves 214 respectively surround a plurality of projections212. The annular grooves 214 could allow the projections 212 on theouter peripheral surface of the contactless data carrier 200 to beelastically deformed easily, whereby to abut against an inner surface ofthe receiving portion much closely.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, a contactless data carrier 300 of a thirdembodiment of the present invention has almost the same structure asthat of the aforementioned embodiments, and is based on the firstembodiment, except that a chamfer 313 is formed at a junction of anouter peripheral surface 311 of a base 310 and a bottom 312 of the base310. In this way, the base 310 could be easily guided into the receivingportion when the contactless data carrier 300 is tucked into thereceiving portion with the bottom 312 of the base 310 facing thereceiving portion.

As illustrated in FIG. 6 to FIG. 8, a contactless data carrier 400 of afourth embodiment of the present invention has almost the same structureas that of the aforementioned embodiments, and is based on the thirdembodiment, except that a base 410 includes a body 412 and a head 414,wherein the body 412 has a plurality of projections 416, and a chamfer418 is formed at a junction of an outer peripheral surface and a bottomof the body 412. The head 414 is connected to a top of the body 412. Anouter peripheral surface of the head 414 is a convex surface, which isadapted to abut against the inner surface of the receiving portion ofthe object connection device. In the current embodiment, a maximum widthof the head 414 is substantially equal to a maximum width of the body412. With the aforementioned design, when the contactless data carrier400 is tucked into the receiving portion of the object connectiondevice, not only the projections 416 but also the outer peripheralsurface of the head 414 could abut against an inner surface 1 e of thereceiving portion, whereby the contactless data carrier 400 could befirmly positioned. It is worth mentioning that, the advantage of usingthe convex surface on the outer peripheral surface of the head 414 isthat, the influence of the manufacturing tolerance could be reduced, andthe outer peripheral surface of the head 414 could be kept in goodcontact with the inner surface 1 e. In a situation that a part of thehead 414 (e.g. one-third of the head 414 in a vertical direction) isexposed out of the receiving portion, when the head 414 is pressed by anexternal force from an opening of the receiving portion, the convexsurface of the head 414 is facilitated to guide the contactless datacarrier 400 to move toward an inside of the receiving portion.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, a contactless data carrier 500 of a fifthembodiment of the present invention has almost the same structure asthat of the fourth embodiment, except that a maximum width of a body 512(i.e., the portion having a plurality of projections 416) is greaterthan a maximum width of a head 514, wherein a material of the body 512could be low-hardness, whereby when the contactless data carrier 500 istucked into the receiving portion of the object connection device, theprojections 416 on the body 512 could be deformed to a larger extent, soas to abut against an inner surface of the receiving portion muchclosely, providing a better positioning performance.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, a contactless data carrier 600 of a sixthembodiment of the present invention has almost the same structure asthat of the fourth embodiment, except that a width of a head 614decreases gradually in a direction toward a body 612, which isfacilitated to guide the contactless data carrier 600 into the receivingportion of the object connection device. In the current embodiment, anouter peripheral surface of the head 614 is a conical surface, which isinclined in a side view. However, the outer peripheral surface of thehead is not limited to be a conical surface as exemplified above, butcould be a zigzag surface or curved surface (e.g. convex surface orconcave surface).

As illustrated in FIG. 11, a contactless data carrier 700 of a seventhembodiment of the present invention has almost the same structure asthat of the fourth embodiment, except that a head 714 has a firstportion 715 and a second portion 716, which are connected to each other,wherein the first portion 715 has a substantially consistent width, andan outer peripheral surface of the first portion 715 could be a flatsurface or a zigzag surface. The second portion 716 is located betweenthe first portion 715 and a body 712, and is connected to a top of thebody 712, wherein a width of the second portion 734 decreases graduallyin a direction toward the body 712. In this way, an outer peripheralsurface of the second portion 716 is facilitated to guide thecontactless data carrier 700 into the receiving portion of the objectconnection device, and the outer peripheral surface of the first portion715 is facilitated to fix the contactless data carrier 700 within theinner surface of the receiving portion by a tightly abutting manner.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, a contactless data carrier 800 of an eighthembodiment of the present invention has almost the same structure asthat of the fourth embodiment, except that a head 814 has a firstportion 815 and a second portion 816, which are connected to each other,wherein the second portion 816 is located between the first portion 815and a body 812, and a width of the second portion 816 decreasesgradually in a direction toward the body 812. A width of the firstportion 815 decreases gradually in a direction away from the secondportion 816. In the current embodiment, both an outer peripheral surfaceof the first portion 815 and an outer peripheral surface of the secondportion 816 are conical surfaces, which are inclined in a side view.However, the outer peripheral surface of the head 814 is not limited tobe a conical surface as exemplified above, but could be a curved surfaceor a zigzag surface. With the aforementioned design, the contactlessdata carrier 800 is facilitated to be guided into the receiving portionof the object connection device. In addition, the outer peripheralsurfaces of a junction of the first portion 815 and the second portion816 could tightly abut against the receiving portion. Moreover, when thehead 814 is pressed by an external force, the surface of the firstportion 815 is facilitated to guide the contactless data carrier 800 tomove toward an inside of the receiving portion, and would not be easilydisengaged from the receiving portion.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, a contactless data carrier 900 of a ninthembodiment of the present invention has almost the same structure asthat of the fourth embodiment, except that a head 914 includes a firstportion 915, a second portion 916, and a third portion 917, which areconnected to one another, wherein the second portion 916 is locatedbetween the first portion 915 and the third portion 917, and the thirdportion 917 is located between the second portion 916 and a body 912. Awidth of the first portion 915 decreases gradually in a direction awayfrom the second portion 916, and a width of the third portion 917decreases gradually in a direction toward the body 912. In the currentembodiment, the second portion 916 has a consistent width. However, thewidth of the second portion is not a limitation of the presentinvention. In other embodiments, an outer peripheral surface of thesecond portion 916 could be a convex surface, a concave surface, or azigzag surface. However, the outer peripheral surface of the secondportion is not a limitation of the present invention. With theaforementioned design, it is not only facilitated to guide thecontactless data carrier 900 into the receiving portion of the objectconnection device, but also facilitated to use the second portion 916 tofix the contactless data carrier 900 within the inner surface of thereceiving portion by a tightly abutting manner. In addition, with thefirst portion 915, it is facilitated to prevent the contactless datacarrier 900 from being disengaged from the receiving portion when anexternal force is applied thereon.

As illustrated in FIG. 14 to FIG. 19, the contactless data carriers ofthe present invention are tucked into different types of the objectconnection devices, each of which has a receiving portion disposed at adifferent position thereon. The contactless data carriers shown in FIG.15 to FIG. 20 could be anyone contactless data carrier of the first toninth embodiments. In order to illustrate easily, the contactless datacarrier 400 of the fourth embodiment is used for illustration.

As shown in FIG. 14, the contactless data carrier 400 is applied to anobject connection device 2, which is also a side-pull hoist ring as theaforementioned design, wherein the side-pull hoist ring includes a bolt2 a, an engaging member 2 b, and a bail 2 c. A receiving portion 2 d isdisposed on a top surface of the engaging member 2 b, wherein thereceiving portion 2 d is adapted to be tucked with the contactless datacarrier 400. In other embodiments, said receiving portion 2 d could bedisposed on a top or a side surface of the bolt 2 a, or be disposed on asurface of the bail 2 c.

As shown in FIG. 15, the contactless data carrier 400 is applied to anobject connection device 3, which is a swivel hoist ring as an example,wherein the swivel hoist ring includes a bolt 3 a, an engaging member 3b, and a bail 3 c. The engaging member 3 b is rotatably engaged with thebolt 3 a, and the bail 3 c is pivotally connected to the engaging member3 b. A receiving portion 3 d is disposed on an outer peripheral surfaceof the engaging member 3 b, wherein the receiving portion 3 d is adaptedto be tucked with the contactless data carrier 400. In otherembodiments, said receiving portion 3 d could be disposed on a top ofthe engaging member 3 b or on a surface of the bolt 3 a.

As shown in FIG. 16, the contactless data carrier 400 is applied to anobject connection device 4, which is also a swivel hoist ring as anexample, wherein the swivel hoist ring includes a bolt 4 a, an engagingmember 4 b, and a bail 4 c. A receiving portion 4 d is disposed on thebail 4 c. In an embodiment, said receiving portion 4 d could be disposedon a surface of the bail 4 c which is away from the bolt 4 a.

As shown in FIG. 17, the contactless data carrier 400 is applied to anobject connection device 5, which is a lifting eye bolt as an example,wherein the lifting eye bolt includes a ring portion 5 a, a body 5 b, aninsertion section 5 c, which are connected to one another. The insertionsection 5 c is adapted to be inserted into an anchor point to be fixed.A receiving portion 5 d is disposed on a side surface of the body 5 b,wherein the receiving portion 5 d is adapted to be tucked with thecontactless data carrier 400.

As shown in FIG. 18, the contactless data carrier 400 is applied to anobject connection device 6, which is also a lifting eye bolt as anexample, wherein the lifting eye bolt includes a ring portion 6 a, abody 6 b, an insertion section 6 c, which are connected to one another.A receiving portion 6 d is disposed on a side surface of the ringportion 6 a, wherein the receiving portion 6 d is adapted to be tuckedwith the contactless data carrier 400.

As shown in FIG. 19, the contactless data carrier 400 is applied to anobject connection device 7, which is a swivel eye bolt as an example,wherein the swivel eye bolt includes a bolt 7 a and a ring 7 b, whereinthe ring 7 b is rotatably engaged with the bolt 7 a. A receiving portion7 c is disposed on a side surface of the ring 7 b, wherein the receivingportion 7 c is adapted to be tucked with the contactless data carrier400.

However, the receiving portion is not limited to be a blind hole asexemplified above, but could be other equivalent structures, such asperforations, recesses, etc. In addition, the base is not limited to becylindrical, but could be a polygonal column, a regular polyhedron, etc.

However, the object connection device that the contactless data carriercould be applied to is not limited by the aforementioned design. Inother embodiments, the object connection device could include connectingrings, shackles, pull rings, rope sockets, snatch blocks, hoist rings,swivels, swivel hoist rings, eye bolts, bearing swivels, hooks, buckles,connecting links, chains, ratchets, other equivalent types, or haveother equivalent structures.

It must be pointed out that the embodiments described above are onlysome preferred embodiments of the present invention. All equivalentstructures which employ the concepts disclosed in this specification andthe appended claims should fall within the scope of the presentinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A contactless data carrier, which is adapted tobe disposed in a receiving portion of an object connection device,comprising: a base, which is adapted to be tucked into the receivingportion, wherein an outer peripheral surface of the base has a pluralityof projections arranged at regular intervals; a top surface of each ofthe projections is adapted to abut against an inner surface of thereceiving portion; and a tag member, which is disposed at the base,wherein the tag member is stored with a piece of data relative to theobject connection device; the tag member is adapted to be read in acontactless manner by a reading device; wherein the outer peripheralsurface of the base has a plurality of annular grooves recessedtherefrom, and each of the annular grooves respectively and completelysurrounds one of the projections to thereby provide space forfacilitating abutment of the projection against a corresponding innersurface of the receiving portion.
 2. The contactless data carrier ofclaim 1, wherein the top surface of each of the projections is a convexsurface.
 3. The contactless data carrier of claim 1, wherein theprojections are made of an elastic material.